Once More…
Once more, she awakens to the sounds of singing birds. Lily slowly opens her sleepy eyes, and smiles a small wistful smile as she listens to her husband, who is softly snoring as he lies next to her in their bed.
"I'd better get to it," Lily thought to herself as she tries to motivate her body to leave her soft warm bed and leave her husband's side, "I guess it's 'Time to make the donuts'."
She silently walks out of the room, down the hall and past Harry's room before she tiptoes down the stairs to the kitchen.
"If only…" She thought as she makes her boys some Bubble and Squeak (Their favorite dish) for breakfast, "A hundred years of October 31st has come and gone faster than I could have imagined."
She smiles as she listens to the sounds of her boys getting around in the morning.
"You better rinse out your mouth before going down to eat son," James says to his sleepy headed son who is toddling into the bathroom.
"Don't wanna," Harry emphatically grumbles.
"You better," James warns, "Y'know that your mum doesn't miss much."
Lily doesn't catch what Harry says in response, "Good boy," she thought as she heard the bathroom tap pour water into the basin.
After a while, she hears James walk down the stairs, as she is placing the filled plates at the set table.
Quickly, she puts down the plates and ambles over to the foot of the stairs in time to greet her husband with a passionate kiss.
"I'm not complaining, but…" James replies as they pull away from each other.
"I can't give the man I love a kiss," she says with a smirk.
"Then give me another," he said before they indulge in even a longer kiss.
As they are otherwise engaged, Harry rushes down the hall to the stairs, trying not to miss riding his broom before breakfast. In his haste to go quickly down the stairs, Harry misses the first step and flies face first down the stairs.
Without even looking behind her, Lily stretches out her hand and catches Harry in the midair.
They finish their kiss and James looks up at a surprised Harry, who is levitating in midair.
"I told you that she doesn't miss much," James chuckles as Harry floats down to the foot of the stairs.
"Yes, Da," Harry says as he rushes over and hugs Lily.
"Off with you poppet," Lily says as she bends over and kisses the top of Harry's head, "Both of you…go eat your breakfast."
The morning routine is over quickly, and as James rushes off to his Auror job at the Ministry, Harry kisses his mother before rushing out to play on his broom.
Lily quickly cleans up the dishes and cooking pan, before she retrieves a small green bottle from her apron. Lily then walks over and sits at the dining table.
"I hope it will be enough," she thought as she removes the stopper from the bottle.
"I will never see his first day of school," she thought as tears began to flow down her face and she carefully collects each tear. "I'll never see his first date or ready him for his first dance. I'll never see his wedding or my grandchildren," she thought as she glances out of the dining room window at Harry playing in the back yard on his toy broom, "Will you even remember us… at all."
She replaces the stopper when she notices that the bottle is full of tears and puts the bottle in her apron pocket.
With a wave of her hand, she magically sends off a rag to do the dusting, a broom to do the sweeping, and a mop to clean the kitchen floor.
As she stands there watching Harry fly about the yard, she pats the bottle in her apron pocket, and remembers the first morning of the hundred years.
-Ө-
"Harry…" Lily softly gasps as she suddenly awakens and sits up in her bed. With her heart pounding in her chest, she frantically looks about her room.
"It was only a dream," she thought as she notices James softly snoring as he lies next to her, "or was it?"
Silently, she slip out of her bed, and walks to her son's bedroom.
"But it looked so real," she thought as she gazes down at her son sleeping in his cot.
She could still see Tom Riddle's face as he curses her. She can still feel the fear grip her heart as her vision is fading to black, and she watches Tom use the killing curse on Harry. She can still hear Harry's death rattle as Tom turns and walks out of the room just as she dies.
"Thank Merlin, that that was only a dream," she thought as she rubs the side of his face before turning around to return to bed.
"What in the world…" she thought as she watches a growing spider slowly descend upon a silken thread. As it descends, it continues to grow in size. When it was about waist level, it suddenly transforms into an elderly woman.
"Who are you," Lily demands as she quickly pulls out her wand and points it at the elder.
"You may call me Atropos," she replies with a wave of her hand that causes Lily's wand to disappear. "Do not fear child, your wand is back where it belongs. Please sit," she prompts Lily as two rocking chairs appear in the middle of the room.
After Lily verifies that her wand returned to her holster that she had carried with her to Harry's room, she sits down in one of the rocking chairs.
"It was not a dream," answers Atropos.
"How…"
"I am one of the Fates," she replies, "Tom made a deal with an Ancient evil. In return for the power to avoid death, Tom would serve the Ancient enemy in the afterlife."
"So how did you…"
"I could not stop Tom from murdering you and your husband, but due to a loophole I could extend your last day to aide you in protecting your son," explains Atropos as she hands Lily a scroll and a small green bottle.
"It's that easy," replies Lily, after she reads the scroll and starts examining the bottle.
"No, it will not be easy at all," warns Atropos, "It will take a hundred years to learn how to correctly perform the spell…and Tom will be killing you, your husband, and your child each day of the one hundred years."
"Will James or Harry remember any of it?"
"No, each time will be the first time that they experience October 31st. Only you will remember every day," Atropos replies as she gets up and walks over to pat Lilly's shoulder.
"Is this the only way?"
"Shush, child, you need to rest before you begin your journey," Atropos whispers as she gently pats Lilly head.
"But…" Lily begins to say before she quickly falls into the land of Nod.
"What?" Lily thought as she regains consciousness, and once again finds herself in her bed. "Thank Merlin, that that was only a dream," she thought as she is beginning to rouse and look around her room.
"Oh, bugger," she thought as she notices the little green bottle on her bedside stand, "I think that this is going to be a very long day."
-Ө-
After standing there and watching her son play for a time, she calls him in, gets him cleaned up, and settled down for a nap.
She goes to her kitchen and prepares dinner. As the roast cooks in the oven, she returns to check on Harry to see if he is asleep.
"Oh, my poppet," she thinks as she rubs his brow as he sleeps.
After she reaches into her apron to fetch the bottle, she whispers the first part of the incantation.
She removes the stopper from the bottle, and places a few drops on his forehead, kisses the spot, and whispers the second part. She notices a faint glow shortly appear where she had placed her tears and her kiss.
She then repeats her actions as she places the tears on his right arm and then finally his right hand.
When she finished the ceremony, the green bottle disappears in a puff of green smoke.
"No matter what, I will always love you," she whispers to him before she kisses his forehead once more.
Taking one last glance, she then shut his door and walks to the kitchen to check the roast.
"Well it's time to live this day one more time," She thought as she made plans to make this final day a special one, "Heh…Once more, with feeling."